A Forgotten Past
by Gunshots123
Summary: A new agent joins the ranks of the Freelancers. Little is known of him but as his past is slowly uncovered, The Agents finally learn the truth about Project Freelancer. Carolina X M!OC M for Language and Violence.
1. Prologue

I awoke to murmurs and whispers, everything was nearly pitch black. I stirred slightly as I tried to pick up words out of the whispers. The more I started wake the louder the whispers became, they were getting closer and closer. The language sounded almost alien but that may have been due to my half-awakened state. Slowly my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and I became fully conscious. I looked around and evaluated my situation. I was in a metal box, Steel walls with a small window, the walls were dented and wore. Signs of a struggle and a large one at that.

I racked my brain for anything that could be of use but it seemed empty, almost hollow. All memory of the events leading up to my current position were gone.

As I started to push myself up, I realized two things, one, my head really hurts and two, I didn't know where I was.

I turned toward the door and heard something unnerving. Footsteps. I reached for the knife I kept in my boot and surprise surprise, it wasn't there. The footsteps got closer and closer until someone opened the door. It was 2 men in black suits. One had a red tie, the other, a black one. The sudden light exposure pained my eyes so i covered them with my forearm.

"Come with us" Red tie said making a motion for me to follow. He tried to make it sound like a request but we both knew it was a command.

I stared at him for a second, weight my options. I could kill both of them and likely get executed by their friends or I could go with them and see what happens.

 _I'm going to regret this._

I followed them through what felt like miles of corridors, it was like a huge maze, passing more and more soldiers along the way. The were all armed to the teeth. My eyes still burned and my headache only worsened with the introduction of light. it was nauseating.

Our little stroll ended inside of a small room with a chair in the middle. It was metal like the room I was in when I woke up but it had a large screen and a one way mirror on the eastern wall.

"You must have a lot of questions right now." Red tie said with a neutral expression. "Take a seat and they will be all answered"

"No thanks, i'd rather stand." I declined, I wanted to sit down to stop the spinning in my head but everything seemed a little.. suspect.

I had a very bad feeling. There is no way in hell i was getting out of here.

He glared "Take a seat." he said threateningly.

I looked at the exit but before i could make a move, a shock coursed through my body. I collapsed. As i lay on the ground, twitching from the shock, i look up to see Red Tie standing over me. he had a weird pistol in his right hand.

Two soldiers entered the room, they grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me into the chair. i tried to resist but my body wouldn't let me.

Cuffs shot up from the arms of the chair and a solid metal strip wrapped around my neck. Locking me in place.

"I told you to take a seat." He smirked.

 _Smug bastard._

"I told you to take a seat" he smirked, walking out of the room and leaving me with two soldiers.

One of the soldiers put on latex gloves pulled out a syringe and a glass container. He shook the container then inserted the needle, withdrawing some sort of clear liquid. He flicked the syringe a few times and went behind me.

I felt a sharp object poke into my back and a strange coldness entered my body. I struggled and struggled but ever so slowly, my eyes started to close. Within minutes i fell into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Chapter 1 is here, hope you enjoy. R&R and if you have any ideas for the story feel to PM me. Thanks for reading. -GS

 _These seats fucking suck._

I had been flying for about an hour at this point and it was doing a number on my tailbone and lower back. Eventually the pelican began to slow down, and we started coming in on final approach.

"We touchdown in one, don't keep the director waiting." The pilot said.

Sure enough, a minute later, the bay door opened to a massive hanger bay. There were crates and small pockets of soldiers everywhere. As I stepped out of the ship with my duffle bag, a man approached me.

"Hello." he said. "I am Aiden Price, counselor of Project Freelancer. Pleasure to meet you." I shook his hand awkwardly. "Please come with me, the director would like to meet you."

 _This ship is huge_.

I had imagined the MOI to be large but not as large as it actually was. We walked passed personnel of all kinds. Medics, guards, soldiers, hell we even passed an IT guy. It was like a flying city.

After walking through tens of long corridors, the Counselor took a sharp right and opened a door to a large control room with a man gazing out a large window at the stars.

"Doctor Church, our new agent has arrived." Price said beside me.

The man turned around to face us. "Thank you, Counselor, that will be all." The Counselor turned on his heel and returned to his station. The director looked me over head to toe. "Hello, I'm Doctor Church, director of Project Freelancer." I shook his hand. "I sure you were briefed on your designation, Agent Oregon was it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, tomorrow morning at 06:00 you will meet the agents in the training arena. Counselor?"

"Yes sir?" Price stood up from his station.

"Assign Agent Oregon his equipment and show him to his room."

"Yes sir, Agent please follow me." The Counselor began to walk toward the exit, I followed.

When we finally reached the armory, it was like the gates of heaven had opened up for me. Or hell, one of the two. There was so much high-tech gear that I'd never seen before. Rifles and shotguns and well… pretty much anything you can think of.

They Assigned me a high-tech suit of armor and it was a thing of beauty. Gray with jet black accents. I assumed it was experimental because I hadn't seen anything like it but it was pretty comfortable for something that's supposed to stop a bullet. It fit me perfectly and all the joints were made of a special mesh that made me just as mobile in suit as I was out of suit and still gave me solid protection from projectiles.

But that wasn't even the best part, I got assigned my own weapons as well. A designated marksman rifle (DMR) with a variable scope and optional night vision attachment. The DMR's internals were also customized. Instead of the 7.62x51mm round it usually used, the rifle was redesigned to use 30.06 caliber rounds. It is only a slight adjustment in round size but it gave the rifle a bit more stopping power and range.

I was also assigned two suppressed submachine guns for close quarters. The two SMG's were smaller versions of the original and had no stock. They were built to be used one handed. The grip was built to fit into the natural positioning of your fingers so it fit like a glove.

After my visit to the armory, I was brought to my room. It was pretty nice, really it was just a bed, a dresser, a desk, a chair and a lamp but it was rather homey. Oh and an alarm clock. Same metal walls as the rest of the ship but I was given a few magnets to hang what I wanted. I wasn't going to hang anything, but it was nice to have the option. At the time, this assignment looked like a cool setup.

I couldn't sleep that night, I finally fell asleep around 3 AM but unfortunately, a few hours later I was rudely awakened by a banging on the door.

"Hey Rookie, wake up, the director won't be happy if you miss your first training." A male voice shouted through the door. I assumed it was one of the agents.

 _My damn alarm didn't go off._

I rolled out of bed, quickly pulled on my armor and jogged down to the arena. When I got down there, I was greeted by the rest of the agents and the director himself on the arena floor.

"Glad you could join us Agent Oregon." He said, he didn't sound angry, but it seemed a little passive aggressive. He continued. "We will be sparring today. We will begin with a match between Agent New York and Agent Oregon."

York began to stare me down. I guess this might be some sort of initiation.

"Then it will be, Agents North and South Dakota versus Agent Carolina and Agent Maine versus Agent Washington."

I could almost see the cockiness though his helmet. He cracked his knuckles and started walking to his designated start point. I just smiled.

The Director and remaining agents went up some stairs to a room with a reinforced glass window looking over the arena.

York got into his stance "Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya." I could hear the smirk in his voice. One thing you need to learn in life is to never underestimate an opponent.

Carolina's Pov.

York is a highly trained freelancer and Oregon is just a rookie. This should be an absolute slaughter.

"Welcome to Project Freelancer" I chuckled

I looked around the observatory to see the other freelancers were having the same thoughts. Nobody was even close to watching the fight. North and South were talking strategy. Maine, Wash, and Wyoming were chatting about the recent grifball game. Well Wash and Wyoming were chatting. The only people actually focusing the fight were the Director and I.

Both fighters got into their stances and FILIS started the count down. At zero York charged the new freelancer. He began the fight with a flurry of jabs, most of which were blocked or dodged. The last punch of his attack landed on the side right of Oregon's helmet, causing him to stumble slightly.

He regained his balance quickly and fell back into his usual stance. For a few moments it looked like a staring contest. Both sides were reading the other, waiting for them to make their next move. Oregon went on the offensive, sending two quick jabs to the stomach and a hook to the right side of helmet. York countered with a punch to the visor, causing Oregon to step back. He tackled the rookie hoping to catch him off guard, Oregon saw it coming though. He side-stepped York and clothes lined him. Oregon didn't hesitate to jump on top of him, York threw his forearms up to protect his face from the punches, but a few still hit their mark. He eventually shoved Oregon off and hopped up to resume the fight but before he could continue, the Director ended the fight.

"That's enough agents. Next match starts in 3 minutes. Prepare."

Oregon's Pov.

After the matches, Agent New York and the other agents walked to the commons area to get a drink or something. I decided to just go back to my room. I changed into the standard issue civilian clothes they gave us and laid down on my bed. It was a pretty comfortable mattress for military issue.

After what felt like hours of just thinking, I heard a knock on my door. I stood up, walked over and opened the door to see Agent South Dakota in casual clothes. She had a neutral expression on her face.

"Come"

She turned on her heel and started walking toward the common area, I followed.

When I entered, I noticed the agents were spread through out the room. Also, after I passed through the door, Maine and York moved to guard the exits.

 _Well, this can't end well._

After a few seconds of silence, a combat knife appeared at my throat.

"Ok rookie, listen to me carefully." A female voice said, Her tone was aggressive and threatening. "Who are you."

I stayed silent.

"Answer me or I will not hesitate to end you." Putting more force in her voice

"I would not suggest handing out empty threats." I said with no emotion. "The Director would have you executed, and I think your smarter than that."

silence filled the air for a few seconds then I heard a chuckle behind me. The knife was lifted from my throat and I was released with a shove. I turned to face my captor.

"I like you rookie." She said with a smirk. "Name's Carolina."

"Oregon" I tried to sound friendly, but I was still slightly confused at what the fuck just happened. I turned to York who was approaching from my left with 2 beers in his hand.

He thrusted a beer into my hand made a motion toward the couch where most of the males were watching a grifball game.

I smiled.

Time Skip

A few hours later the Director called us into the briefing room, once we all sat down, he began.

"Hello agents" He said with a smile. "In 24 hours, you are being deployed to a small insurgent stronghold located near the outer reaches of the UNSC." He pulled up a holographic map and started explaining the mission. It was a small base, kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded on 3 sides with large cliffs with hills leading to the edge. That means we need to watch out for flanking armor, troops etc. "We recently received intel that a high-ranking officer is stationed there. Your objective is to locate and eliminate said officer and destroy the compound. Agent Carolina, brief your team."

Carolina stepped forward. "Thank you, sir." She placed her helmet under her arm revealing her red hair. "I will keep this short. Agent's York and Oregon will be with me targeting the Officer, Agent's North, South, Washington and Maine will plant explosive charges on the supports here, here and here." She points at a rotating hologram of the small outpost. "Wyoming will be providing overwatch. Any questions?"

No one said a word.

"Excellent, good luck agents."


	3. Chapter 2

Oregon

We touched down planetside around noon. The bay door opened and we exited slowly, scanning the area for anything potentially dangerous. After it was deemed clear, the pelican took off and we grouped together.

"Oregon, York, on me. Others, you know what to do." Carolina said and walked out of the group. "Try not to get yourselves killed."

And with that she started to walk toward the cliff and began the descent. I looked at York, he looked back and shrugged. We followed.

"Did I ever tell you I was afraid of heights?" York said, almost losing his grip on the rock he was holding on.

Meanwhile Carolina was quickly making her way down. "Oh, stop being a bitch."

Eventually we all made it ground. York didn't exactly stick the dismount, but he made it.

I helped him up and we started on our way.

"What's the entrance plan?" I asked.

"There's a side gate that isn't guarded very well, You and I will kill the guards and York opens the gate."

"Copy"

"What you don't trust me with shooting a guard?" York said almost offended

"York, I don't trust you with sharp objects." Carolina retorted.

I chuckled

"Bitch." he whispered under his breath.

We walked for a minute or so until we saw two guards standing in front of a small opening in the wall. The opening was protected by a steel gate with a code lock on the wall beside it. It looks like it might be used to resupply the base.

We took cover behind a large rock. Carolina was to my right and York to my left. I drew one of my SMG and tossed the other to Carolina. She caught it and checked the chamber for a round. After testing the sights, she nodded to me and we both stood up.

Our aim was deadly, the guards didn't stand a chance. Carolina handed my sidearm back, and we moved up. We quickly dragged the corpses out of sight as York started on the lock. While I was waiting, I decided to check one of the bodies for anything useful. As I was checking his pockets, I felt something rectangular. Upon further investigation it was a plastic security card. I stuffed it into one of the pouches in my armor and waited. A few seconds later, an audible "I still got it." was heard and the gate slowly opened. We walked in the shadows and made it to a side door on the west side of the main building.

York went to start on the lock, but I lightly pushed him aside, flashing the card. I swiped the card across the lock and sure enough, I heard the lock activate. York pushed open the door and we entered.

Carolina took point as we tried to figure out where we would find our target. It was absolutely silent on comms. We followed Carolina, guns up, for a few corridors until she held a fist in the air. We were looking into a three-way intersection. If we continued straight it led to more corridors but looking to our left, there was a lonely guard standing in front of a reinforced door.

 _Found it._

We stuck to the wall to remain out of sight.

Carolina motioned toward the guard and York stepped in front of her, moving to execute her order. He drew his combat knife and flipped it into a backwards grip.

He took a deep breath and stepped around the corner to rush the guard. The poor bastard tried to raise his gun but York had already pushed the barrel toward the ground. The blade sunk deep into his neck, causing blood to spatter and cover the wall behind him. York retrieved his knife from the corpse and used his thigh to wipe off some of the blood on the blade before placing it back into it's holster.

Carolina and I moved up, meeting York at the door. I pulled out the plastic card I found and swiped it over the lock. The lock just turned red and said 'ACCESS DENIED'

"Damnit" I cursed under my breath.

York lightly pushed me aside and took a knee beside the lock. Hopefully he'll be more lucky. Carolina and I stood as sentries, making sure no one snuck up to us.

Carolina reached up and pressed a button on her helmet. "Team 2, sitrep."

A radio clicked on, "Most of the charges are planted, we should be out in the next few minutes." North replied.

"Copy.

A few seconds later, York had finished with the lock. He stood up and the squad prepared to breach. I took point, Carolina was behind me, then York behind her.

I drew my SMGs and opened the door. I turned around the corner and gunned down two more guards, leaving one very scared man in a deep blue uniform.

Carolina took it from there. She grabbed the man, spun him around and placed her knife at his neck and ended him. He fell to his knees holding his throat, a weird bubbling noise dampened his cries of pain. Seconds after the cries stopped, an alarm went off. The loud sound made all of us jump. I could hear shouting in the hallways.

 _And it was going so well._

"Carolina?" I asked for a little bit of guidance. I could tell she was thinking.

"We need to get the hell out of here."

Before we had a chance to gather ourselves a black figure appeared over the officer's body, reaching down and tearing a chain from his neck.

"Texas." Carolina hissed.

"Thanks for the help Carolina but ill take it from here." She taunted. "Command, this is Texas, target has been eliminated."

"Good copy Texas, excellent work."

After that she just disappeared.


	4. Chapter 3

Oregon

Carolina was fuming. Absolutely silent.

"Can someone explain to me what just happened?"

"Shut the fuck up Oregon."

I looked at York, he made a motion clearly saying 'Drop it'.

Once I got past the confusion of seeing someone appear and disappear in front of me, I found a piece of cover and prepared for the worst. I checked the magazine in my DMR, I knew it was full, but it was worth a check. I racked a bullet and set my sights on the door, which was currently wide open. But to my surprise, no one came. Foot steps could be heard from the hallway but they all were moving away from us.

"Carolina?" I said. No response.

 _Fine ill do it myself_.

I reached up to my helmet and pressed a button on the side. "Team 2, are you finished with the explosives yet?"

A radio clicked on, It was North. "Yeah we kinda have a little…" Gun shots fired off in the background. "…Problem."

I cursed under my breath. "Damnit."

After running through what felt like a hundred corridors, we exited the facility and entered the outpost's staging area. It was an absolute warzone. Gun shots could be heard from all directions and several explosions were getting dangerously close. After a second of looking around, we found the rest of the squad. They were pinned down next to a few shipping containers.

York Carolina and I slid into cover near the center of the fight, next to some crates.

"Any ideas Carolina?" South yelled over the firefight. Carolina just ignored her, she looked deep in thought.

"Everyone listen up"

Small time skip

We crashed through the main gate.

"COULD YOU LEARN HOW TO DRIVE PLEASE?!" South yelled over the radio. Holding on to the roll cage for dear life.

"It's harder then it looks!" North replied, narrowly avoiding a boulder.

The squad and I had "borrowed" two old Warthogs, unfortunately they were both for transport and were unarmed. That minigun would be really useful right about now. I ended up riding with North, South and Wash. North took driver, South was shotgun and Wash and I were the unfortunate passengers.

Bullets flew by my head and I could hear the lead bouncing off the steel plates. I ducked down.

I had no idea what the plan was at this point, it was chaos. Carolina's warthog took point so we just followed her and hoped for the best.

After a few minutes of driving under heavy fire we finally got out of range and it was pretty smooth sailing.

"Well that was a rush" York chuckled over the radio, I could hear the relief in his voice.

I chuckled a little but stifled myself quickly when we started slowing down and Carolina's voice came over the radio, and she was less than happy.

"Evacs in 3." She said.

I really don't know how to describe it but it was more of a snarl then a call out. I didn't know what the hell Texas did but I had a feeling that it wouldn't end well for any of us. I hadn't been on the ship very long but I learned quickly that when Carolina's pissed, someone's getting their ass kicked.

Everything seemed fine at the moment, the pelican came into view at around the right time and landed on schedule. The squad was about to load up when a shot rang out and the front half of the pelican blew apart sending us all flying back from the force of the explosion. I got up first and surveyed the area, a group of soldiers were headed our way. I instinctually took cover behind the downed pelican and started to return fire. Unfortunately, this put me in the very back of the squad.

One thing that I despise about using the DMR is that you get into a certain, zone I guess. And that lack of awareness can be fatal in some situations.

As the firefight started to wind down and the adrenaline stopped pumping, I took the rifle off my shoulder and returned it to my back. After a few deep breaths to calm myself I went to start walking towards my squad. I didn't even get around the wreckage. A soldier had grabbed me by the shoulder and placed a blade at my neck. He was nervous, I could tell by the shakiness of his hand. I grabbed his wrist and twisted, simultaneously disarming him and dislocating his shoulder with a sickening pop. I kicked him in the chest causing him to land flat on his back then placed my boot on his sternum.

I drew one of my sidearms and placed the barrel to his temple. He flinched.

I could see the fear in his eyes. Couldn't have been older than 18 or 19. A kid fighting in a man's war. So helpless, so scared. Just trying to avenge his comrades.

I placed my finger in the trigger guard and started to apply pressure.

 _Click._

 _Empty._

His eyes were wide when I kicked him in the head.

Luckiest day of his life


	5. Chapter 4

Oregon Pov.

It had been a while since we had gotten back to the MOI. I was just laying on my bed, thinking. What I did to that soldier really stuck with me. I don't know why but it just did. The look in his eyes was burned into my memory. He was just a kid and I was ready to end him so brutally.

 _I need a drink._

I rolled out of bed and began the short walk to the common area.

I walked in to find Wash and North, both sitting at the bar.

"Sup Oregon, need a drink?" North said cheerfully, must have been drinking.

"Something hard please."

"First mission blues huh. I have just the thing." He smiled pouring me a shot. I thought it was vodka, but I didn't care. I welcomed the burning feeling as the liquid flowed down my throat.

"I remember my first mission" Wash said, looking off into the distance.

"Was that the one where you decked your sergeant or the one where you almost fell out of the pelican" North said trying to contain his laughter.

I bit my tongue trying to hold my laughter but failed. Miserably. North joined in shortly.

"Oh fuck off North, let me live that one down."

"Never." He said through another fit of laughter.

*Time skip*

York Pov.

ALL AGENTS REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM

I always hated debriefs, I find them pointless and a waste of time. Usually the things we talked were our faults and we usually knew what we did wrong to begin with. It was just redundant in my opinion.

By the time I got to the debrief most of the agents including Texas, which was weird in itself, were already settled in. I yawned and took my seat near the middle of the room. A few minutes later the director began.

"Welcome back agents." He said, but it wasn't a very welcoming tone. It sounded like more of a scolding tone. "It is quite unfortunate what happened during your operation, your inability to complete your assignment disappoints me." He gave a look to Carolina, She stared back with no emotion, but I could tell the frustration was starting to build. "Luckily someone completed your mission for you." He smiled and looked to his left at Texas who was leaning against a wall.

Carolina had enough. "My squad was there, she just took the dogtag and reported it. She did absolutely nothing to contribute to the operation." She leaned back in her seat to stay calm but her face was blood red.

The Director raised an eyebrow at her for a second and began to walk toward her.

"I would suggest that silence yourself before you say something you'll regret." He gave a crooked smile. He pressed a button on the tablet he was holding and the dreaded leaderboard flickered in behind him.

This will not end well.

Carolina POV.

FILSS's robotic voice came over the intercom "Simulation complete, your time was 3 minutes and 37 seconds. That is 1 and a half seconds faster then your previo-"

"Run it again." I cut her off for the 30th time that day.

"Restarting simulation."

Holographic targets started to appear on the floor and walls.

It had been about a week since I got moved down to second place and the wound was still fresh. I was just as pissed off as ever. She stole that position from me and I'm determined to take it back. Everyone kinda avoided me, but then again, I wasn't really in high traffic areas. Over the course of the week I had been in two places, either the training arena or my dorm. I was going to get that spot back from that bitch, by any means necessary.

York POV

"How long has she been in there this time?" Wyoming asked, holding his morning coffee in his hand.

"Hell if I know, it's been a while though." I replied, looking through the observatory window. The red head in question just started another simulation. The group and I were worried about our leader, yeah she could be harsh and a bitch sometimes but shes still our squad leader. And our friend. Most of the time.

"Maybe one of us should speak with her." Oregon said, he walked in a few minutes before Wyoming.

"Oregon. My friend. You have a lot to learn here. Carolina has been our squad leader since the beginning of the project." I stop to motion at the other freelancers. "We've seen what happens to people who try to speak to her when shes in this mode."

"I got a few cracked ribs from when I tried to talk to her after we missed an assassination target." Wash added.

"I think the best idea for all of us is to stay out of her way." I finished, hoping Oregon would heed my warning but he just looked at me.

"Fine, it's your funeral." I shrugged taking another sip.

Oregon POV

Some of you may ask, 'oh why did he that that was a good idea, it can only end badly.' Well to be honest I felt a little responsible for her losing the dog tags, plus maybe this would have helped me get on her good side. If I don't die.

When I walked in, Carolina was running a target practice sim. Unfortunately it didn't occur to me that they use live rounds here.

"Hey, Carolina." I yell out over the gunfire. The second I finished my sentence, a bullet flew inches over my head. I looked at the spot where the round hit then back at her.

I am so fucked.


End file.
